About the Show

The Incredible Hulk TV Show is based on an iconic Marvel Comics character created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. It began it’s journey with a 2-hour pilot movie, which aired on Nov 4th, 1977.

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To understand The Incredible Hulk TV Show, we must first examine the main character’s history. Dr David Banner was a well regarded medical doctor and scientist who worked at The Culver Institute in California. After his wife passed away in a tragic accident, Dr Banner was naturally distraught and overwhelmed with guilt after he we was unable to save her life during a horrific car accident. It became his obsession to discover a way to give ordinary humans like himself super-human strength, so that this type of tragedy could be averted. Had he possessed such power, he believes he wife would have survived

The Experiment Gone Wrong

Dr David Banner hypothesized that Gamma Radiation from sunspots could induce superhuman strength if introduced into the human body. The doctor’s next move was to conduct an unsupervised experiment which would either prove or disprove his theory.

Without his knowledge, his radiology equipment had been re-calibrated. As a result, Banner receives an enormously high dose of Gamma Rays. After initially believing the experiment to be a failure, David leaves the lab. En-route to his house, he gets a flat tire and injures himself while loading the spare. This anger is enough to unleash the Gamma beast within. The mild mannered Dr David Banner has now become a 7 foot, 300 pound, green skinned, grunting monster with incredible strength!

The Anger Subsides

After his anger subsides, Dr Banner soon reverts to his normal self but with no memory of what happened. His research partner, Dr Elaina Marks helps him piece together exactly what happened when she reads a bizarre report of a hulking green monster running amok in the city. The two scientists then make it their mission to find a way to stop the madness

His Nemesis – Jack McGee

A relentless reporter named Jack McGee becomes obsessed with getting to the bottom of this incredible story and haunts Dr Banner day and night. In his pursuit for evidence, McGee accidentally starts a fire at Banner’s lab and witnesses The Incredible Hulk emerging from the fire with Dr Elaina Marks. He believes Dr Banner has been killed in the flames

Dr Banner takes this opportunity to fake his own death and hits the road in pursuit of answers to his incredible duality. He is seeking the greatest scientific minds to help uncover this terrible mystery and meets many interesting characters during his journey

“Mr. McGee, don’t make me angry. You wouldn’t like me when I’m angry.” – Dr David Banner

Cool Facts About The Incredible Hulk TV Show

• Stan Lee’s Comic Book version of The Hulk had the monster speaking short phrases like “Hulk Crush” and “Hulk Get Him” but producers of the TV show convinced him that it would be more effective if the monster only communicated through a series of grunts. It worked!
• The Incredible Hulk TV Show ran from 1978 to 1982. The TV series began one year after the pilot movie appeared on CBS in 1977
• Subsequent sequels include The Incredible Hulk Returns in 1988, The Trial of The Incredible Hulk in 1989 and The Death of The Incredible Hulk in 1990
• Arnold Schwarzenegger originally auditioned for the role of the Hulk, but was turned down because of his height. Producers wanted the taller and more menacing Lou Ferrigno. A bit of fair play for Lou who had lost to Arnold in the Mr. Olympia bodybuilding competition
• It took 3 hours to apply The Hulk’s makeup
• Lou Ferrigno had to wear hard contact lenses to change his eye color and they had to be removed every 15 minutes because the eye pain they caused was unbearable

The Cast of The Incredible Hulk TV Show

Bill Bixby – Dr. David Bruce Banner
Lou Ferrigno – The Incredible Hulk
Jack Colvin – Jack McGee
Ted Cassidy – The grunting voice of the Hulk